Squanchy was putting out an ominous creak about two weeks ago. It was a very loud pinging/creaking noise coming from the front left knuckle of the Jeep during turns. Boy was it driving me nuts! Without a helper to turn the wheel while I got up close and personal with the steering components, I was helpless to find the squeak source on my own. Naturally I thought the worst… Geez, how much is this gonna’ cost me? But, as with anything in life; there’s no sense in sweating over an issue without assessing the facts first. A quick search online pointed me to the likely culprits and with a friend turning the steering wheel, I was able to pinpoint the squeaky ball joint. After a quick trip to NAPA and $30 later, I was wiping down zerk fittings and filling boots with Valvoline grease. Problem solved.
Keeping components greased via the zerk fittings helps maintain the effective life of your steering and suspension ball joints. Stock Jeeps have no zerk fittings. But, if you’ve upgraded your undercarriage, chances are that your performance upgrade components have zerk fittings and can be greased. How often? Most sources that I reviewed online say to grease these at least at every oil change (Every 5,000 miles in my case). Before you start be sure to wear your safety glasses, wipe off any dirt from the zerk fittings and also wipe off any excess grease after you’ve finished filling them. Fill through each fitting until you see the boot expand and grease begin to seep from the boot. A quick run through my ball joints, drag link connections and driveshafts has left Squanchy squeak-free and ready to rock n’ roll.